Spicy and leafy hops up front in the flavour, grapefruit rind and pith, with clean neutral grains minding the backbone. Clean, dry finish, with an underlying herbal hop character lingering in the aftertaste, curiously coating and triggering on the base of my mouth rather than the palate.

This is a well put together beer for what it is, granted it is not the most complex of styles, however it delivers and the subtlety of craftsmanship shines through. I disagree with the reviewers who are calling this an IPA or Red IPA (although the lines with the latter can easily blur), I think perhaps they have yet to come across any of the intensely hop forward Red Ales that the West Coast of the U.S. is capable of producing, and have been for quite some time since it is a catch-all style that runs the gamut of extremes depending on the brewer.

I agree with the other reviewers that this is an IPA due to the huge hops profile and lack of malt backbone. Much like Hop Head from Green Flash this is a red ale in colour only. That being said this beer is a very well made hoppy PNW ale that has a great hoppy nose and a big long finish . If this was in six packs I would buy it all the time.

I also think it is great that brewers such as Russell and Philips showcase winning homebrewers in bottled form. It shows the levels at which BC brewing is now at in 2012 and gives great recognition to the home brewers of BC.

A - clear light copper golden, two fingers of creamy head retained very nicelyS - grains, tropical fruit, pepper, and light caramelT - peppery and grainy up front, some earthiness, unfortunately none of the fruit or sweetness shows up that was apparent in the noseM - fairly light, peppery and hop dryness lasts throughoutO - its a good beer but not a really good amber, the maltiness just doesn't shine, its still tasty but just not what I was hoping it would taste like

650ml bottle - nice depiction of an organized homebrew setup on the label.

This beer pours a slightly hazy medium bronzed amber hue, with two flabby fingers of densely foamy, puffy, and bubbly eggshell-white head, which leaves multiple layers of honeycombed lace around the glass as it displays stellar retention, gently sinking away.

It smells of bitter piney, leafy hops right up front, before a meaty caramel malt takes hold, followed up by some tame citrus peel notes, and a further herbal, earthy hoppiness. The taste is more zingy piney, forest floor hop bitterness, a kind of laid-back bready caramel malt, a consistently overshadowed, but still prominent citrus pith character, and fading herbal notes.

The bubbles are fairly restrained, and generally innocuous, the body a wavering medium weight, and mostly smooth, but as is the case with such hopped-up offerings, an expected, though inoffensive astringency kind of worms its way in. It finishes still good and hoppy, little changed since first crack and whiff, with the malt continuing its downward influential dive.

A pretty tasty affair, and, yes, much, much more of a west coast IPA, than any semblance of an amber ale - the malt backbone is just too weak, relatively speaking, to proclaim otherwise. Definitely worthy of a go, if you have any form of hop-head predilection, believe you me.

First I'd like to say Congrats to Eric Jourdan, King of the Carboy, for winning the home brew competition with this (or some beer that led to this) delicious brew. This deep amber coloured ale is seriously more NW ale than amber ale! It packs a solid hop whallop, which is deceiving because the aroma is very tame. It has a smooth pale malt body with a hint of sweetness, and the lacing is incredibly heavy, which we don't often see from Phillips. The hops are citrusy, with hints of grapefruit, and a little of that typical northwest pine. The finish lingers a decent while, too. An all-around very well-put-together brew, very sessionable. The flavour is totally west-coast, think I'll have my next one with a cedar plank salmon steak. Cheers to Eric!

Poured from a 650ml bottle. This beer was named after the CAMRA homebrewing contest winner and this is apparently his winning beer which Phillips brewed. It says it's a "Northwest Amber Ale," but one sniff of the piney nose and you could be forgiven for mistaking it for a NW pale ale or IPA. Hope definitely dominate. The palate follows suit, although there are some nice sweet malt flavours to balance the huge hop hit. There is a persistent hop finish that sticks with you. Very bitter at the end.